The Director’s Message

Aloha mai kakou! Greetings to all! Thank you for taking the time to learn more about Ho`ala School. Each day at our school brings an exciting new opportunity to enrich the minds of our students, and we hope your child/children will join us!

Ho`ala School welcomes students regardless of race, gender, national and ethnic origin, and is non- discriminatory in all our policies. We accept children from Kindergarten through Grade 8.

There are no specific academic entrance requirements; however, we base our admission decisions on many factors, including your child’s age and suitability for our wonderfully unique program.

Please contact us regarding availability for your child/children, and to schedule your personal tour of our school. We are more than happy to answer your questions and provide additional information about our educational programs.

Warmest regards,

Lilette Subedi
Director of Admissions

Ho`ala School’s Educational Philosophy

Ho`āla Education is a philosophy that uses a coherent system of practices to develop citizens of personal integrity who act effectively for the greater good. Ho`āla Education is based on the work of Alfred Adler as articulated by Rudolf Dreikurs and others. Adler held that human behavior is purposive or tends to fulfill a conscious purpose, sometimes regarded as being future oriented. Adler identifies two basic motivations and says that each of us is searching for two things:

— a strong sense (or experience) of significance, and
— a strong sense (or experience) of belonging

How we achieve this purpose:

School and home partner to create environments where children develop habits of responsibility, respect, resourcefulness, and responsiveness through example and experience; and, as a result, flourish as successful, healthy, and contributing human beings.

The 4 Rs

Our core values of the 4 Rs show up in our speaking and in our actions:

RESPONSIBILITY – The power of the individual

You lose your power when you blame, lie, make excuses, and justify. You gain power by “owning” the choices you make in attitude and behavior.

RESPECT – The balance of power between individuals

Honor your decision-making boundaries and those of others. Respect others by not making decisions for them that are properly theirs; Respect yourself by not allowing others to make decisions that are properly yours.

RESOURCEFULNESS – The reasons and methods in which we work together

Taking effective action instead of complaining and focusing on what works. Solving problems and identifying solutions!

RESPONSIVENESS – The purpose that defines our actions and speech

Act for the good of the whole. We are interdependent and interconnected. Win-win instead of win-lose.

Based on these core values, we organize our school so that:

1. Adults model these values in their speaking and actions. Our students know when we adults don’t “walk the talk”. The Four Rs elucidated with specific behaviors become our norms to guide our working collaboratively together; for example, “If I have a concern or complaint, I will speak to the person who can do something about it, rather than complain to others.”

2. We focus on building relationships and community–between teachers and students through connecting activities, listening groups, and organizing various events through mixed-grade interactions and school wide events to build school connectedness.

3. We empower students’ voices by:
•  Listening to them and taking them seriously
•  Providing opportunities for them to lead in many ways including participation in the student council; in peer tutoring, peer mentoring, peer mediation; and forming groups of their choosing
•  Giving them as many choices as appropriate to nurture and grow their own healthy sense of self

Our philosophy includes these concepts:
• Human beings are self-determining and are responsible for their own lives and this means even our Kindergarteners have the capacity to be responsible. [responsibility]

• Human beings have the power to transform their lives by what they think. If we change our thinking, we change our feelings and our experience of life. [responsibility]

• The human potential of students is unleashed when their unique sense of self is nurtured. When they are grounded in who they are, their capacities of compassion and social responsibility are enhanced. [responsibility, respect, resourcefulness, responsiveness]

• Human beings learn best when they are not afraid of making mistakes which are valuable opportunities to learn. [responsiveness and resourcefulness]

• Each person matters and makes a difference to everyone else. Each person is interconnected and interdependent. All life on earth is interconnected and interdependent. [interdependence and responsiveness]

• By fulfilling the psychological and emotional needs for sense-of-self and sense-of-belonging, the capacity for learning and for compassion blossoms. These needs are fulfilled when students are listened to, taken seriously, and feel needed. [responsiveness]

• Students cannot be safe to be their unique selves unless they support others to be themselves. In certain grade levels, the opinion of peers is critical and when students can value and support others to be themselves, they in turn are supported. [interdependence, respect, and responsiveness]

• Students learn from an intrinsic desire, rather than from extrinsic manipulations and we believe that intrinsic motivation is more effective in student achievement. [responsibility and respect]

• All human beings are equal in deserving respect, not because of age or role, but simply because they are human beings. Students should be treated with the same degree of respect by adults as adults would treat another adult. [respect]

• Respecting another human being means: (1) listening to them, (2) taking them seriously, and (3) honoring choices that are appropriately theirs to make. [respect]

• When a school is organized around these principles, students will flourish and develop resiliency when meeting challenges and grow academically.

Ho`ala Parents

Our Ho’āla ‘Ohana Community 

We are all members of the Ho’ala extended ‘ohana (family).  We care for our children, each other, our school community, and our beautiful Hawai’i nei.

Ho’ala parents and guardians know that they are the most powerful influence in their children’s lives! They know that their children will learn to become cooperative, effective, responsible individuals when the adults in their lives earnestly commit themselves to being cooperative, effective, responsible individuals.

The Ho’ala ‘Ohana Community is a fun and very welcoming group of children, youth, and adults working together to support and strengthen our unique, caring and dynamic school. We are dedicated to assisting our school with fundraising efforts, planning fun activities, and helping the school coordinate numerous programs as appropriate.

As a small learning community, Ho’ala cannot survive without the full participation of parents, students, teachers, administrators, and extended family volunteers. We recognize that each family has its own priorities, time constraints, and special circumstances. It is our hope that we provide numerous options that will complement and enhance parents’ ability to volunteer their time willingly and effectively.

Parents are asked to select from a variety of opportunities that are available throughout the school year including but not limited to workdays, chaperoning field trips, participating in Ho’aloween’s Trunk or Treat, marching in the Veterans’ Day Parade, and so much more!

Ho’ala School values our relationships with parents, grandparents, students’ siblings, “aunties and uncles” in supporting our students, school, and community-at-large.

Ho’āla Education Committee

The Ho`āla Education Committee was created to give parents a voice in the school’s decision-making process and help shape school policy in an effort to better support students.  Led by parents, serving as chair, vice chair, and secretary, the following outlines the purpose, roles, and responsibilities of the committee.

The Education Committee will:

• Operate as an advisory council and make recommendations to the Head of School regarding proposals to enhance the educational experience of Ho`āla students.
• Initiate discussion on relevant topics impacting the school.
• Originate a proposal to be forwarded to the Head of School to discuss with the faculty; after the faculty deliberates, the proposal may be forwarded to the Board based on the decision of the faculty and the Head of School.
• Meet monthly from September to May.
• Select officers to serve as chairperson, vice-chairperson, and recording secretary.
• Form subcommittees, if necessary, to study specific initiatives and report back to the committee as a whole.

Board Members

Each board member understands that Ho’āla encompasses a wider view of education than that of more traditional schools. New board members are selected for their expertise and also for their willingness to incorporate some level of Ho’āla’s philosophy in their lives. Board members now include alumni who bring a new perspective and understanding of Ho’ala philosophy and mission. Board members participate wholeheartedly in school fundraisers with 100% participation in activities and meetings. Upon selection to the board, each member agrees to assume financial responsibility for Ho’āla by making an annual monetary contribution to the school. 100% of board members contribute to the school’s annual fundraising drive and participate regularly in various activities during the school year.

Dr. Christopher Campisano, Ex-Officio Member

Head of School, effective June 1, 2021, (808) 621-1898

Jonathan E. “Jef” Fern, Secretary/Treasurer

Retired Ho’ala Master Teacher and Ho’ala Co-Founder, (808) 621-1898

Lori Fukuoka, Faculty Representative

Ho’ala Teacher since 2000, Lower Elementary Grade Level Teacher, (808) 621-1898

Martha Peterson, Member

Co-Owner Peterson Upland Farms, President of the Wahiawa General Hospital Auxiliary, Secretary for the Wahiawa Historical Society, Bishops Committee Member St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. Member since August 2019, (808) 621-1898

Linda Perry, Member

Retired Ho`ala Head of School and current Director of the parenting curriculum component for FETCH (Family Education Training Center of Hawaii) through the University of Hawaii. (808) 621-1898.

Dr. William McKenzie, Member

Retired local physician (Obstetrics and Gynecology) with over 50 years of supporting families in Central Oahu. Dr. McKenzie received his medical degree from the University of Texas School of Medicine. Member since September 2022, (808) 621-1898.

Sheri Elarco, Board Chair

Waipahu High School Teacher with over 15 years of experience as a special education and physical education teacher. Sheri also has extensive experience as a coach and dance instructor. Member since September 2022, (808) 621-1898.

Chris Bailey, Member 

Alumna of Ho’ala School, now serving as the Manager of Leeward Community College’s Wahiawa Value-Added Product Development Center since 2023, Chris brings his eclectic experience as a business developer, entrepreneur, and research chef to our board. He is a results-oriented leader and mentor in community economic development and entrepreneurship. Email: vapcd@hawaii.edu

Carlos Penaloza, Member

Educator, Researcher, and Chancellor of Leeward Community College since 2019, Carlos has more than 13 years of teaching and administrative experience in higher education institutions. After leaving his homeland in Venezuela and arriving in the USA to pursue his education, Carlos earned his degrees from the Queensboroough Community College and Queens College of the City University of New York. He is also a member of the Soto Ryugen Taiko Group of Wahiawa! (808) 455-0215